Trunk Club men's shopping service raises $11M for tech expansion

Trunk Club, a Chicago-based personal shopping service for men, said Thursday that it has raised $11 million in venture capital funding to expand its technology platform.

Silicon Valley firm U.S. Venture Partners led the funding round, which also included Chicago-based Apex Venture Partners. Trunk Club Chief Executive Brian Spaly moved his business to Chicago from Bend, Ore. in 2009. The company chooses clothing items for customers based on their stated preferences, and the options are mailed to clients' homes.

"Trunk Club is well-positioned to capture a huge, and largely ignored, market segment: guys who don't like shopping," Ted Maidenberg, a partner at U.S. Venture Partners, said in a statement.

Trunk Club also announced Thursday the launch of its online customer center, which helps customers manage their clothing preferences and give feedback on previous orders through the website. This technology platform will help the company collect improved data "to provide increasingly targeted recommendations with every subsequent order," Trunk Club said.